Mr Gerry Adams has made a personal appeal to unionists to accept that he is being sincere when he says he wants to reach out to their community.
The Sinn Féin president said that republicans must also accept that unionists are genuine when they say they have real concerns over certain republican actions.
Republicans must also have some understanding of unionists' sense of Britishness, he said in a statement yesterday. "Nationalists and unionists, republicans and loyalists, have to come to terms with and recognise each other's integrity. We recognise that for many people who live in the north of Ireland their sense of Britishness, however that is defined, is as important to them as being Irish is to us."
"Republicans at all levels must reach out to unionists as part of a process of national reconciliation," he said. "Sinn Féin's engagement with the unionist community is a sincere effort to listen to and understand unionist concerns," he added.
"I am aware of the gulf of mistrust that exists between republicans and unionists. I know that 30 years of conflict makes it difficult for unionists to hear what I have to say but I would ask them to listen to and accept my words as my personal attempt to address their concerns," he said.
He urged unionists in the same spirit to recognise and address republican and nationalist concerns about unionist intentions.
"Sinn Féin recognises and accepts the difficulties caused for pro-agreement unionists and others by allegations of IRA activities in the recent past. These allegations have added to the difficulties within unionism. I also know that rejectionists have exploited these difficulties in an attempt to subvert the peace process and to undermine the process of political change," he continued.
"Republicans must rise above that narrow agenda. We must recognise that unionists do have real concerns and republicans must genuinely address these concerns. I also believe that the IRA recognises and accepts those difficulties."
Mr Adams said nationalists did not want anyone treated in the same manner as nationalists were treated in the past by unionists.
"But the truth must be faced if we are to leave the past behind. Unionism presided over a system of institutionalised sectarianism for over 50 years," he said. He added: "The refusal to face that fact and accept that there must be change disturbs nationalists. The constant stalling of the Good Friday agreement, particularly in the areas of equality and justice, undermines the peace process and the process of reconciliation.
"I say this, not by way of recrimination but in the context of looking forward and ensuring that as we move closer to our goals that we do not repeat a similar injustice."
Mr Adams said that short-term steps must be taken by all sides to ensure that the marching season is peaceful. But in terms of loyalist social deprivation he said that a prolonged and consistent policy, which will remove social grievances and reduce alienation in loyalist and unionist working class areas, is essential.
The SDLP representative for North Belfast, Mr Alban Maginness, said Mr Adams's appeal to unionists demonstrated that Sinn Féin was playing "catch-up" with the SDLP which " has been saying consistently for over 30 years that the building of trust and understanding between our two main communities is the only way towards a just and lasting settlement in the North of Ireland".
